


Off the Streets

by iselsis



Series: Whump"tober" 20"20" [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Adoption, Alfred Pennyworth is the Best, Alpha Bruce Wayne, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Bruce Wayne can't tell the difference between kidnapping and adoption, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Communicating, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Gen, Good Grandparent Alfred Pennyworth, Hair Pets, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Alfred Pennyworth, Omega Jason Todd, Omega Verse, Pack Dynamics, Platonic Cuddling, Street Rat Jason Todd, Whumptober 2020, collared
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:21:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26792803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iselsis/pseuds/iselsis
Summary: Omega Jason Todd needs to get some food and go to ground quickly, before his heat hits. This plan is destroyed by Batman and his habit of impulse adopting children the way some people impulse buy gum at the cash register.
Relationships: Alfred Pennyworth & Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne & Jason Todd
Series: Whump"tober" 20"20" [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950982
Comments: 126
Kudos: 823
Collections: Gen Batfam ABO





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have returned to feast on your tears and sadness! A few hours late again, but I had to submit a test for French, that class absolutely vital for some reason to my English degree. It's been three semesters and I'm still salty about French. This also got a bit longer than I meant it to be...by about two thousand word, but say la vee. Anywho, Whumptober part 2: collared(ish)!

“Get back here, you thief!” the clerk hollered after him.

Jason, not an _idiot_ , did not go back there, or even stop to pick up one of the bags of food he dropped. The clerk wouldn’t go far from the corner store, or he’d have more than just one kid grabbing some packaged food and sprinting, so all Jason needed to outdistance the beta to get away scot free.

His rush of pride was quickly squashed by reality, and the flickers of pain that had started in his stomach and promised a heat, soon. Without a calendar, he’d been forced to guess when most his heats were, and heats for younger kids like him could be inconsistent anyways. The first signs of heat had only just shown themselves, warning him to get food and hide quickly. 

Food, down, he thought to himself, rather smugly. The beta hadn’t even been a challenge to outrun. He’d even snagged two water bottles and shoved them in the pocket of his hoodie, which was more foresight than he’d had the last time he’d gone into heat. It had been one of the nice working girls had found him and taken pity on him that had kept him from crawling out of his nest on day three to track down some water.

Jason ducked into a dark alley that he knew even the bravest of store clerks wasn’t stupid enough to enter at night for fear of running into _strangers_.

And speaking of strangers, Jason slammed directly into a wall of something unnecessarily solid. Jason stumbled back, rubbing his sore nose in confusion. There had _not_ been a brick wall there when he’d been casing the joint that afternoon, but apparently one had conjured itself up.

“You have something that doesn’t belong to you,” the brick wall commented in a deep, gravelly voice.

Jason looked up – and kept looking up – until his eyes saw the yellow and black bat symbol, and the pointy black bat ears above them. 

Oh, hell no. Jason spun on his heel and made a break for it, but Batman collared him immediately and yanked him back.

“Let me go! Let go!” Jason dropped his hard won food and desperately clawed at the gauntlet holding his hoodie. He’d go hungry if he had to. It would suck hard, but he couldn’t let Batman arrest him and throw him at the GCPD right before he went into heat. He’d be lucky to come out alive.

It was useless, though. Batman was probably three times his size, and wearing armored gloves. It took Jason a minute to accept that, and that he was just wasting energy he’d need to live through the beating he was in for and stop fighting.

Batman waited a few more moments after he’d stopped struggling, like he was waiting to see if Jason was really done. 

Once he was satisfied, he gave Jason a small shake and jerk his head at the mess that Jason had dropped. “Pick those up.”

Jason scowled fiercely at him, but knelt slowly, Batman’s hand following his hood, and started feeling around for the food without breaking eye contact. His stomach made a loud growl at the sight of all the pretty food, all packaged up and ready to eat….it had been a couple days since he’d last found more than a few scraps. He hadn’t been able to find a job, or anything easy to steal until the food, and now he had to get away and bunker down for his heat. Without the food, that meant that it would have been at least a week before he got to eat again.

Batman might have mercy if he behaved, though. 

“Here,” he grumbled, standing up and holding out the armful of food to Batman. “Now let me go.”

Batman didn’t move to take it, which was damn rude. Instead, he stared down at him for several seconds, his head tilted in a calculating pose. “Why did you take that food?”

“That’s a stupid question,” Jason snapped before he remembered the he needed Batman to like him if he wanted to beat the clock and get back to his cozy little nest of rags and shredded pieces of cardboard. He deflated somewhat and looked to the ground to hide his flushing cheeks. “I’m hungry.”

“And your parents won’t feed you?”

“Does it look like I ha-” Jason started sarcastically, then cut himself off and muttered in a less hostile tone, “No. They’re dead.”

His mom was, at least. She’d wasted away from the drugs until there was so little that even her tricks didn’t want her anymore, until she couldn’t talk or do more than stare vacantly at the ceiling, and until she finally stopped breathing on their couch. It still hurt, thinking about her, even though it had been a whole year. The blanket he’d pulled from her nest and stuffed into his backpack before he ran now smelled of him and of Gotham’s underbelly, instead of the sunshine and honey that she’d smelled like before – before she’d gotten sick. He missed her so much.

His dad was in jail. Probably. Didn’t really matter one way or another, because Jason wasn’t going anywhere near him anyway.

“I see,” Batman said quietly. 

Jason dared a quick glance up, then froze. Batman looked…sympathetic. Like he actually understood. It just looked _wrong_ on the Unholy Terror of the Night. He was going to _die_. He had broken Batman, and the universe, or Batman’s fists, was going to demand vengeance.

“Who takes care of you?” Batman asked him, kneeling down to be closer to Jason’s height, but still keeping a hold on his hoodie.

Jason swallowed hard and tried not to look intimidated. Even down low, the alpha was _huge_. “I do. Can I go now?”

Batman frowned. “Why aren’t you in foster care?” 

Jason fixed him with an incredulous glare. It was a bit more daring that he should have been giving out when he wanted to get on Batman’s good side, but _seriously_ , wasn’t Batman supposed to be some great detective? The foster system was in the hands of the mobs, and even if it wasn’t, and they were in some other city that wasn’t like Gotham, omega pups weren’t safe in foster homes. 

“’s not exactly safe for people like me,” Jason muttered. He was normally good about keeping his scent covered, but with his heat approaching, everything was out of whack. There was no way that Batman hadn’t noticed what he was.

Batman nodded and stood up. “Come with me.”

Jason’s eyes widened and he tried to back away, but he couldn’t get far. “Where are you taking me?”

Batman started walking toward the mouth of the alley and gave Jason’s hood a slight tug. “You’re going to return what you stole. I’ll deal with you after that.”

And then he’d give Jason a firm talk on why stealing was bad, and Jason would pretend to be thoroughly repentant and be up and at it again as soon as his heat was done? Batman nodded because he understood that Jason wasn’t safe in foster care, right? So he wouldn’t try to put Jason in there? Or maybe he was just going to beat the hell out of him for stealing, like he did to every other thief he’d met. He’d seen what Batman gave his _dad_ for stealing, and his dad had been an adult alpha with friends. A packless omega pup would be lucky to survive Batman’s wrath. If he did survive, then he was going to be broken, immobile, starving, and in heat a mile from the safety of his nest in the middle of Crime Alley.

Jason’s legs felt like lead as he trailed after Batman. He knew that he needed to hurry, get whatever was coming out of the way so he could get back to his nest, away from any alphas who could smell him, but he didn’t want to fork over the food _he_ had stolen, and he didn’t want to get beaten. 

The clerk was scowling when they walked into the store, an expression which quickly changed to shock, and then to smug satisfaction when he realized what was going on. Batman released his hood and gave him a nudge toward the counter. Jason scowled and shuffled up to it. 

He tightened his hands around his ill-gotten goods one last time before he opened his hands reluctantly and dumped it all on the counter. 

“Here’s your dumb shit,” he grumbled.

The beta growled in smug triumph. “Looks like the little thief met the big bad bat. He beat the shit out of you yet?”

Jason scowled at him and stormed back to Batman, but his heart was pounding wildly in his chest. “There, I gave it back. Can I go now?”

Batman put a hand around Jason’s upper arm and led him out of the store. He said nothing as he pulled Jason in a new direction. Jason focused on deep breaths. Panic might make his heat come quicker, but the clerk’s question rang in his ear: _he beat the shit out of you yet_? Batman understood why he wouldn’t go to foster care, probably understood that meant the cops too. He still had to be punished, though. Jason shuddered and tried half-heartedly to pull away. 

“Please let me go,” Jason begged quietly. “Please, I’ll be good. I won’t steal again, I promise.”

Batman looked down at him, but didn’t loosen his grip. “I’m not going to hurt you. Calm down.”

Jason’s heart sank. The no was bad enough, but expected. Was Batman trying to lull him into a false sense of security? He’d thought that only the Rogues were freaks, but now he realized that the guy dressed as a vigilante bat probably should be in Arkham too. Jason struggled a little harder, but he hadn’t eaten in two days, and even if he had, he was no match for the giant alpha.

“Please, please let em go,” he tried. “I learned my lesson, okay? Please!”

Batman stopped and grabbed Jason’s other arm, forcing Jason to face him. Jason flinched hard, but no blow fell.

“I’m not mad at you. I know that you were just trying to survive,” Batman promised, his voice losing a slight edge on the gravel, but he was still scentless, and his face was covered, and with his body so _close_ to Jason’s, he couldn’t tell if the man was telling the truth. Why would he be telling the truth, though, and where was he taking Jason if he was?

“If you’re not mad, then can’t I go?” Jason whimpered helplessly.

Batman sighed and shook his head. “You aren’t safe on the streets. You need to come with me.”

With that, Batman stood up and tugged Jason suddenly into an alley. Jason had to bite his lip hard to hold back the terrified scream – it would only make Batman angrier, and angry people hurt more. He was going to be beaten, no matter what lies Batman was telling him. 

What was this place, Batman’s favorite alley for beating up stupid kids? He’d been pretty purposeful about coming to this place, so there must have been something.

Then he saw it – a glint of light on metal. The shell of a car. 

He was an idiot. A damn idiot. Batman wasn’t going to _beat him up_ ; Jason was a starving, packless omega pup on the brink of heat who no one would miss.

Batman was going to rape him.

Jason suddenly threw all his energy in trying to break free of Batman’s grip, hoping to take him by surprise, but Batman just picked him up and carried him over to the car despite his protests. 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Batman repeated, grunting a little as a well placed elbow jabbed into his ribs. “I’m not angry with you for stealing. You’re about to go into heat, and you need to be off the streets _now_.”

“No, please, let me go!” Jason begged him, clinging to the cape as Batman opened the door and tried to put Jason inside. “Please, I’m fine on my own, you don’t have to do this, please!”

Batman unclipped his cape when he couldn’t get Jason’s fingers off it, and tossed it in on top of Jason, then closed the door behind him. Jason made a half-hearted attempt at the door handle. It was locked, of course. He wasn’t going to be able to escape his punishment so easily. Tears welled in his eyes, and another, vicious cramp sent them spilling onto his cheeks. He felt the first flicker of heat start in his stomach, and knew that he had maybe an hour before that tiny spark had consumed his whole body. If he was lucky, Batman would be done with him by then, or at the very least, drop him off outside the abandoned building he’d taken shelter in when he was. More likely, Batman would keep him for his entire heat under the guise of _protecting_ him. 

The driver’s door opened, he could hear Batman climbing inside, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at the man. His breath hitched and his entire body flinched at another cramp. He buried his face in his knees and groaned.

“Is your heat starting?” Batman asked, his voice losing even more of its gravel. “I can help you with that.”

Jason flinched. Batman’s voice was becoming less and less disguised, and there was no way he was going anywhere once he’d hear the man’s real voice.

What did he tell Batman? When alphas offered to help omegas with their heats, it only ever meant one thing. But that was going to happen anyway, and maybe he could hurry it all up and get it finished so Batman would let him go. Earn some good will by being a compliant little bitch.

Jason nodded miserably.

He didn’t look up, but he could hear Batman opening and rummaging through the center console for something. That _protection_ he kept talking about, probably. The kind that came in foil wrappers.

There was a small rattling noise, painfully familiar, that had Jason looking up in confusion.

Batman was holding a small white bottle and checking the label on it. 

“How old are you?” Well, that came out of nowhere.

“Twelve,” he answered without even meaning to. It must have been the _randomness_ of that question shocking him.

Batman grunted. “You’re supposed to take two pills, then.”

Jason watched in stunned silence as Batman uncapped the jar, shook out two white pills, and held them out toward Jason. It was almost in a daze that he reached up and took the pills from Batman’s hand, and the water bottle that he was passed a moment later. That was…not what he’d expected.

Unless Batman was trying to drug him.

“What are these?” Jason asked suspiciously.

“They’re just Tylenol. Would you like to see the bottle?” Batman told him, more patiently than Jason would have expected.

Jason hesitated, not sure if it was a trap, then nodded. Batman calmly handed over the small plastic bottle in his hand, and Jason snatched it and read the ingredients, directions, and warnings three times before he had concluded that yeah, that was…actually probably just a painkiller. 

Jason cautiously took the pills with a swig of water and a sideways glance at Batman to watch his reaction, but there was no crow of victory, no smug smirk at Jason for having drugged himself. Just a painkiller, for real, then.

“Buckle up,” Batman instructed, slipping the key into the ignition and bringing the car to a purr.

Panic tightened Jason’s throat, and the scent of it was immediately thick in the car, mixed with a cloyingly sweet omega heat scent. His breaths were fast and shallow, and he found himself clenching his eyes tight shut again.

“Where are we going?” Jason cut a glance to Batman. Scentless, unreadable Batman.

Batman paused, frowning slightly at Jason’s reaction. “I’m taking you to my home.”

Jason couldn’t breathe, and his eyes welled with fresh tears. No wonder Batman was giving him the medicine; he wasn’t being kind to a random orphan he was gonna fuck once and abandon, he was providing for his future _mate_.

“Can’t we just do it here and get it over with?” Jason pleaded. He’d never be able to escape from Batman’s headquarters, wherever that was, and he was sure by the offering of the medicine that Batman was in for the long haul. If he went with Batman, he was going to die a slave to a hero, probably fairly young.

Batman tilted his head slightly as he fixed Jason with a stare. “Do what here?”

Jason flinched and his cheeks flushed bright red. Batman was going to make him spell it out? His heart hammered, and he turned begging eyes on Batman. “Please, I won’t fight you, but only once. I’ll do just what you want me to do, I won’t struggle at all, but _please_ do it here, and let me go when we’re done. I-” _His mother, coming home late at night or not at all, covered in bruises and bitemarks that she hadn’t been before. His mother, not even recognizing him because the drugs her pimp had her on were so strong and kept he more firmly under the beta’s control than shackles ever could. His mother, scared that she might be pregnant with the child of an alpha she didn’t know, only to lose the baby and get even worse than before._ “Please, I don’t want to be a whore.”

Batman’s jaw dropped, and he actually, physically recoiled from Jason at the suggestion. “I’m not- I-“

Batman’s gravel was entirely gone, and he couldn’t seem to find the words for how revolting he found whatever it is he was mad about. Was it that Jason had asked him to let him go after a light demonstration of courting? Jason’s eyes stung fiercely.

“I didn’t bring you here to _rape_ you,” Batman said firmly at last, still not in his Batman voice. Jason was definitely never, ever leaving. It wasn’t going to be _rape_ ; it was going to be _mating_ while Jason was in heat, and that didn’t even count in courts that weren’t in Gotham. 

Jason tucked his face against the window and let the tears fall. There was no one but Batman to see, and Batman had singled him out probably because he could already tell how weak Jason was.

Batman sighed. “What’s your name, son?”

Jason sniffed and muttered thickly, “What’s it matter?”

“I want to know what you like to be called so I can call you that,” Batman told him. 

Jason didn’t want to give him his name, but he also realized that he was probably never going to see a single other person ever. He didn’t want to lose the name his mother gave him, or use some sort of fake name for the rest of his life.

“Jason,” he whispered.

Batman sighed again. “Alright, Jason. I’m not going to hurt you. That includes any kind of sexual touching. Adults touching kids that way is very wrong, even when it’s an omega in heat. Not everyone believes the same way, though, so you have to get off the streets before your heat gets any worse. I’m not trying to keep you forever, just until your heat is finished. Then we can figure out where you want to stay. Does that sound good to you?”

It sounded good. It sounded _so_ good. For a moment, hope sprang up, burning with painful, wonderous brilliance, but then it flickered out and died. 

“Everyone’s seen what you put Robin in! I’m not an idiot!” Jason snapped at him. 

“Robin designed his outfit by himself. I didn’t particularly like the lack of pants either, but the design was sentimental to him and I allowed it. I did _not_ ever touch him sexually, and you’re welcome to ask him about that yourself when you meet him,” Batman said, then started to pull the car out of the alley like the conversation was done. If he was done talking, then it was. Batman held all the power in their relationship. 

“I’m meeting Robin, then,” Jason drawled, trying to hide the wobbliness in his voice as they travelled at breakneck speed down the streets. It had never been proven, but a lot of people thought that Robin was an alpha too. “You usually invite friends over for this kind of thing?”

Batman had the nerve to give a long suffering sigh. Asshole. “If Robin comes by the house, then you’ll meet him, but he isn’t going to touch you either. Jason, you’re safe. I promise.”

Safety and promises. Jason snorted bitterly. He’d stopped believing in fairytales a long time ago.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Eccentric_Wolf, longsuffering and long awaiting.
> 
> Peri, I'll get your selkie Tim thing out soon.

Jason tried not to let Batman see his tears, but he knew that man could smell the terror rolling off him in sour, metallic waves mixed with the sickeningly sweet scent of heat and the dull edge of pain—his stomach ached fiercely despite the painkiller no matter how he sat—pain he knew Batman would exploit before the night was done.

Jason choked down the sob until it whimpered and died into a small sniffle.

“You’re alright,” Batman reassured him again, just like he’d done every time Jason had shown any emotions Batman didn’t like.

“Let me go,” Jason slurred again, too weak for any bite in his tone.

It was hopeless. He was too weak and small to get away, and once Batman put a mating bite on him, then he’d _never_ be able to get away. He wouldn’t even be able to _hire_ a divorce lawyer, certainly not one that could match whatever a man as rich as Batman could hire, _especially_ if Batman pupped him.

He was going to be a slave, just like billions of omegas for thousands of years before him. He was just another statistic, just another conquest, just another street pup who’d made one wrong move.

“I don’t touch pups,” Batman _lied._

Jason just clunked his head against the window, pointedly ignoring anything else Batman had to say. Batman sighed _again_ at Jason, but at least he shut up and stopped trying to pretend that he was trying to do anything less than mate Jason senseless. He was probably already picking out names for their pups, and there was nothing Jason could _do_ about it because it wasn’t even illegal to take an omega in heat. Even if Jason managed to escape and _did_ try to get Batman arrested for being _Batman_ , he’d still be in even more danger, because what alpha crook _wouldn’t_ want to get his hands on Batman’s bitch?

Jason rubbed at his eyes and subtly tested the doorhandle. It was locked, and he didn’t know how to unlock it.

Fuck Batman. _No, please, I don’t mean it_.

The bright city lights of Crime Alley faded to only periodic streetlamps as Batman drove farther and farther away from everything that was familiar, out of the city, over the bridge, and into Bristol.

Jason scrubbed at his face with his sleeves and tried not to puke. At least his new alpha would be rich enough that he’d never have to worry about there being enough food. Not that Batman would necessarily _give_ him that food, but Jason could get his own if he was very quick and clever.

_That’s what got you into this in the first place._

Batman must have noticed Jason drying his tears, but he didn’t say anything about it. Jason wasn’t _thankful_ , but he was definitely relieved.

Suddenly, Batman was pulling off the road and into the woods at the side of the street. Jason’s head snapped up, dread knotting with the pain in his stomach. Had Batman gotten fed up with his crying and decided to teach him a lesson? Were the pheromones too much for him to go any farther without knotting Jason?

Jason pulled back with a sharp whine of terror which _no one was gonna hear but Batman and Batman_ liked _it_ , and Batman’s head snapped up.

“Jason? What’s wrong?” Batman hit a button on the ceiling and glanced forward, then back to Jason. “Are you hurt?”

Jason turned to—he didn’t know what, beg for mercy? For death?—but movement and the corner of his eye caught his attention. He glanced back just in time to see a stone wall raise out of the way, and then they were in a tunnel.

The tunnel was dark, lit only by strips of light running down both sides, but it seemed to go on forever. Jason had heard rumors that Batman really committed to the theme and had a Batcave and shrieked to echolocate and slept upside down, but he hadn't really thought that was _real_. Was Jason going to have to sleep upside down when they slept together? Were they gonna— _do stuff_ upside down?

Jason’s eyes welled up all over again, and he slammed his head down against his knees and hugged them against his chest. Of course, Batman would be able to overpower him, so it was useless, but is was all Jason had left.

The car rolled to a stop, and Batman didn’t wait a moment to turn off the car and open his door.

“Jason,” Batman said. “We’re here now. Can you get walk? Or do you want me to carry you?”

If Jason said anything, he was going to throw up, and he wasn’t going to humiliate _himself_ , especially if Batman got off on that, but he wasn’t going to just get out and _walk_ to the bed. Batman could carry him, and Jason would puke all over him.

“Master Bruce,” another voice called from several feet outside the car.

Jason froze, his scent spiking with a fresh wave of terror.

There were _more_ of them.

His stomach churned so violently he nearly threw up anyway. He’d known that _Robin_ was an option, but that voice was too old and British to be Robin, and Robin wasn’t even _around_ if Batman had been telling the truth about that, but maybe he wasn’t and Jason was going to get claimed by _three_ alphas.

“I trust you had a quiet night?” the British man asked.

Batman paused, then climbed out of the car and shut the door behind him, meaning that Jason couldn’t hear their plans.

Jason held his knees to his chest as tightly as he could and tensed every muscle in his body to make it as hard for Batman to unbuckle him and pull him out as possible. His heart pounded and his breathing came ragged, and there was nothing he could do about his scent anymore, but he wasn’t giving up. He couldn’t _do_ anything, but he couldn’t roll over and present.

After a minute or so, the car door beside him opened very slowly, and Jason flinched hard and tightened his grip as much as he could, but even that was so weak because heat was making his muscles into applesauce and his headspace cotton balls. _Give me a clear shot at the balls_ , he prayed to whatever god might care. They’d make him pay, though, so much, and everything was going to hurt so—

Jason’s nose twitched.

That—

Jason slowly raised his head just enough to smell, but…it really was.

The crouched just outside the car was oldish, with graying hair and a lined face, but most importantly, he smelled of honey-sweet _concerned-caring-don’t worry-safe_.

The man was an _omega_.

Jason’s fingers flew to the buckle, and he threw himself at the older omega with all the strength he had left before the seatbelt had even retracted all the way. The omega caught him and pulled him in close.

Jason buried his face against the starched collar of the omega’s shirt, breathing fast and wild as he dug his fingers into the material, waiting for Batman to try to pull him off the older omega. The older man squeezed his arms around Jason just firmly enough to be reassuring without it hurting. Jason knew that the omega couldn’t stop Batman, might even be helping him take Jason, but he needed to be safe for just a moment.

Batman didn’t try to take him, though.

“He won’t believe that I won’t touch him,” Batman told the older omega. “He’s homeless, though, and going into heat without a pack to protect him.”

“I see.” The older omega hummed in some kind of understanding. He raised his hand and hesitated a moment before starting to rub circles on Jason’s back, trailing his wrist to smear Jason with the scent of a concerned and protective omega. “I will take things from here, Master Bruce. Good night, sir.”

Jason hid his face against the omega’s neck, his nose resting on the omega’s scent gland, and didn’t dare look up as the omega marched off— _away_ from Batman.

They were _leaving_ Batman.

Jason keened quietly into the omega’s shoulder, and a warm hand left his back to gently rub the scent gland on his wrist over Jason’s collarbone scent gland, a _pack_ gesture that covered Jason’s vulnerable, young scent with something braver and older. Jason’s instincts kicked into hyperdrive, and he melted into the hold. But if the omega was _Batman’s_ pack, and he was accepting _Jason_ as pack, then didn’t that mean he was approving of what Batman was going to do to him?

“Shh, my pup,” the old omega hushed him. “You need to sleep.”

Sleep? _Real_ sleep? Maybe the older omega didn’t know what Batman wanted from Jason—not that it was hard to _miss,_ given what Jason smelled like—or maybe he was kind enough to let Jason put it off until the next night.

Jason sagged against the older omega and let himself be carried up a flight of stairs and out through a thin doorway into a room with bookshelves and papers—an office building? Did Batman work in an office building? The omega kept walking, sweeping from the room with Jason still balanced in his arms like there was no weight to him at all. 

“My dear boy,” the omega hummed, sliding his hand down to massage Jason’s sore back. “You poor thing.”

Jason sniffled and turned his face, rubbing his cheek against the older omega’s scent gland and protective scent. “Please don’ le’ ‘im rape me,” Jason whispered, burying his face again as the heat and tears garbled his words.

The older omega clicked his tongue in disapproval. “I would never let him or anyone else touch a child, my dear pup. You are safe now.”

Jason shook his head because that wasn’t true, that was too _easy_ , but the omega just nodded with far more muscular control than Jason had at the moment and stopped suddenly in front of a door. He shuffled Jason a bit so that he could hold the pup in one hand and open the door in the other, then carried Jason into the room.

Jason raised his head in curiosity and looked around the room. He inhaled sharply when he saw the massive bed right against the wall, right where the older omega was taking him. Big enough, easily, for Jason and _several_ alphas.

Jason tried to scramble away, but the old man scruffed him lightly again, and his already weak muscles went lax in submission.

“Shh, you’re safe now,” the older omega promised.

Jason whined in fear, but the omega just rubbed his back comfortingly for a moment before closing and locking the door.

Jason relaxed just a bit. It wasn’t like Batman wasn’t known for kicking doors down, but maybe he wouldn’t kick his _own_ doors down, and at least that meant that the omega wasn’t just setting him in a nest for Batman to come mate.

“What’s your name, young sir?” The omega rested his hand on the back of Jason’s neck but didn’t scruff him, a protective gesture that would keep any alpha from being able to bite him.

“J—” He yawned and nuzzled closer in against the scent gland by his nose. The older omega’s scent was _soft-protective-charmed_. Despite himself, Jason smiled. The omega liked him.

“Jason,” he managed to finish.

“Master Jason,” the omega said, then nodded like he approved, even though he sounded funny calling Jason a _master_. “My name is Alfred. Would you let me give you a bath?”

Jason wrinkled his nose. Was the bath just so Batman wouldn’t have to fuck a dirty pup? Or was it because he didn’t want Jason getting the sheets dirty?

The thought of spending his whole heat sweaty and gross _and_ filthy, if he could at least get rid of the filthy, was enough to make him nod weakly into Alfred’s shoulder. He’d ruin any decent nest, and he was sure he did smell good either.

Alfred carried Jason across the room to another door. He flicked on a light switch, then sat down carefully with Jason still in his arms. Jason didn’t look up, but he heard the sound of running water. After a moment, Alfred bent down, presumably to plug the tub, before he stood up and carried Jason only a short distance before sitting him down on something cool and hard.

Alfred let go of Jason, but Jason clung on as tightly as he could.

That wasn’t very tight, though, and Alfred pulled Jason’s arms from around his neck, but kept Jason’s hands folded firmly in his.

“Master Jason,” Alfred said, slowly in a way that normally would have been patronizing, but really helped Jason pay attention as he blinked to let his eyes adjust to the light and his muscles adjusted to supporting themselves.

Jason fixed Alfred with the most betrayed look he could persuade his facial muscles to make the effort to hold. How could Alfred not hold him?

But Jason wasn’t pack, not really, so of course—

Alfred caught Jason’s chin with the back of his hand, tilting his head up to face Alfred without ever letting go of Jason’s small fingers.

“I’m going to undress you. If you do not wish me to, then I will let you do so yourself,” Alfred told him.

Jason flopped forward bonelessly. Taking off his _own clothes_? He’d never manage that! Alfred chuckled and caught him.

“I see,” he said.

Alfred’s hands were tactful and brief against his body as he first lifted Jason’s shirt over his head, but they felt so nice. Maybe it was just the heat, but it had been so _long_ since anyone had ever touched him so kindly, without asking anything in return, maybe even since his mom died.

It was a bit more finagling to get Jason’s jeans and underwear off, and normally Jason would have been blushing with shame at being laid bare in front of someone else, but Alfred had been nothing but kind and he was too heat sick.

Alfred placed arm around Jason’s back, and the other under his knees, then lifted Jason into the air. He carried him only a few feet, but Jason didn’t ever want to get down.

No one ever cared what Jason wanted, though, and Alfred lowered Jason into the water in the bottom of the tub. Even though there were only a couple of inches of water, Jason felt like he could drown just because of how _big_ the tub was. It was…his head hurt. _Big_.

Alfred pulled back his arms and stood up. “I will be right back, young sir. The water is shallow enough that you are in no danger of drowning, but don’t roll onto your stomach, understood?”

Fear, sharp and instinctive, lit up in Jason’s scent, and he keened in displeasure. There was still an alpha somewhere in the house, an alpha who’d brought Jason to his den so he could claim a little omega pup as his mate, and Alfred needed to _protect_ Jason!

Alfred smiled indulgently and bent down, caressing Jason’s cheek with bent fingers before he stood up again and adjusted the water so it fell a bit slower.

“I will be right back. You’re safe, my boy,” Alfred promised.

Jason’s eyes stung with tears watching Alfred walk briskly from the room, _leaving him_ to the mercy of a universe that had never given Jason a break and _Batman_. His scent filled with distress and anxiety, only for his glands to be swallowed by the warm water a moment later. The tears fell, cutting clean streaks in the grime, searing despite the raging heat already burning in his cheeks. He’d only known Alfred a few _minutes_ ; he shouldn’t have expected any different, but it still _hurt_.

Soft footsteps.

Jason snarled as viciously as he could, but then Alfred was standing beside the tub with his hands full of a towel and a pile of fabric that looked like maybe clothes, and Jason bared his neck in apology and a plea for Alfred to stay, please.

Alfred left _again_ , but only for a second. When he stepped back to the tub without the towel, he knelt down and reached down to help Jason sit up.

The water on his chest felt chill when it hit the air, but it brought down the fever a bit, so he at least felt a bit better, and Alfred’s hands felt nice, skin to skin in a proximity his body craved with the safety and innocence that his mind needed.

Alfred kept one hand on his arm, holding him up, then reached out of the tub and grabbed a washcloth he must have brought in with the towel. He set it on the tub, opened a bottle of soap with one hand, and squeezed a nice dollop of soap onto the cloth, then he folded the washcloth in half and dunked it in the water.

Alfred gently scrubbed Jason from head to toe, starting with gentle strokes on his face, careful to keep the soap from going in his eyes or mouth, then down and around Jason’s neck, behind his ears, and then down his torso. Alfred shook the washcloth under the water a few times and replenished the soap, but he never let go of Jason. He washed down Jason’s legs, to his feet, and between all his toes, but he let Jason wash his private parts himself.

Once Jason’s body was as cleaner than it probably had been since he was born, Alfred cupped his free hand and scooped up some warm water to wet the top of Jason’s matted hair. He did it several times until Jason’s head was thoroughly soaked. Only then did he let go of Jason’s arm, and only for the moments it took to open a bottle of shampoo and shift around so he was behind Jason and could access both sides of Jason’s head. Jason didn’t even have time to protest with how tired and heated he was.

Alfred’s fingers massaged soap into his scalp, and Jason was almost purring with how good it felt. The good feeling was slightly muted after Alfred rinsed the shampoo by having Jason stick his head under the faucet so he could attack the knots in Jason’s hair with conditioner, but by the end of Alfred’s ministrations, he could run his fingers through Jason’s hair without them catching on any tangles. Jason didn’t know how long they’d been there, but it felt like _forever_ as the water slowly cooled. He was practically falling asleep the second time Alfred helped him to the front of the tub again to rinse his hair under the faucet, hanging mostly limp and unable to keep his eyes open for very long.

Once he was clean, Alfred opened the drain and pulled Jason up out of the water and against his body, even though it meant that Jason was getting him completely soaked.

Jason sagged into Alfred’s hold as Alfred reached for the towel he’d brought with him. He dried Jason thoroughly in the softest towel to ever exist before he laid the towel over the side of the tub. Jason groaned because he was _cold_ , but Alfred was pulling a thick sweatshirt over his head just a moment later.

The clothes smelled faintly of stale alpha scent, and Jason stiffened and pulled at them.

“Wh—whose—?” Jason mumbled. Were these Batman’s clothes?

“These are your brother’s,” Alfred informed him.

Jason frowned. He didn’t have a brother…did he? He felt tired enough that he might have forgotten, but he didn’t think he had a brother.

Alfred wrangled a much too big pair of boxers onto him, then a pair of sweatpants that almost ate him alive. The boxers felt like they were going to drop if he moved too much, but Alfred tied the drawstring on the pants tight enough to keep the underwear at least kind of pinned.

Then Alfred was picking him up again and carrying him back into the bedroom. That time, Jason wasn’t scared.

Alfred laid Jason in the middle of the bed, and Jason rolled onto his side, enjoying the way the bed shifted as Alfred pulled the blankets and sheets from where they’d been neatly tucked so he could pull them into a nest around Jason.

Once the nest was put together, the bed shifted one more time right next to him. Jason smiled and nuzzled up against Alfred, happily submitting to the gentle scenting he was getting. Alfred smelled so nice and safe, and Jason knew he’d protect him while he slept. After all, he’d snapped at Batman earlier and then stolen Jason away. Maybe Alfred was Batman’s mate? But he’d acted more like Batman’s mama, so Batman wasn’t gonna fight him. Mmhmm, Alfred was a good mama and Jason was his baby now.

Jason purred in contentment, finding a pleased echo in his new protector as Alfred wrapped Jason up in his arms.

“G’night, Mama,” Jason whispered.

And then he was out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized that I have three or four half/three-fourths finished fics from when I had covid, so I might polish those up while I work on other things.

**Author's Note:**

> Coat and Cowl and Unholy Matrimony had a baby, and this is it. Speaking of those two, I'm trying to finish chapter three of Coat and Cowl, but it is for some reason just _insanely_ difficult to write. Ugh, but I'm close to done. Closeish.
> 
> Edit: There will be more, by request of a couple of readers, after Whumptober.


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